Ragin' Cajuns Complete Tournament Play in Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Volleyball is set for its final pre-conference tournament of the season Thursday-Friday, Sept. 15-16 as the squad participates in the Fight Like Hal Memorial hosted by UAB at Bartow Arena.

The Ragin' Cajuns (1-10) and host-UAB (7-5) start the event at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Louisiana wraps up tournament play on Friday at 12:30 p.m. vs. Memphis (5-4) and 4:30 p.m. vs. UT Martin (3-9).

The trip to Birmingham also serves as a reunion for Louisiana head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot. She was coached by UAB head coach Kerry Messersmith in volleyball and softball at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College.

This weekend's tournament is played in memory of Messersmith's husband, Hal, who passed away two years ago. He was the head baseball coach and the couple were dorm parents during Mazeitis-Fontenot's stay at Fort Scott.

"One of the reasons we're participating in this tournament is because I know Kerry, she's a very good friend, and was my college coach," Mazeitis-Fontenot remarked. "Just like we have our Sawyer Camillo Memorial tournament, this event is similar and means a lot to her."

The Fight Like Hal Memorial provides the Ragin' Cajuns with one more opportunity to fine tune their game prior to the start of Sun Belt Conference play next weekend at Earl K. Long Gym.

The offense has been led by Stacey Reilly who ranks Top 30 nationally in total kills (155) and Top 40 in total points (170.5). Reilly has generated double digit kills in 10 of 11 matches.

Chanelle Gardner has provided a steady swing, hitting .380, and leads the front row defense with 39 blocks. In the past two weeks, Gardner has become only the second Ragin' Cajun in the rally scoring era to reach 300 career blocks and entered the rally era's Top 5 career kills list.

Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn enters the weekend ranked inside the Top 10 of the NCAA stats for total assists (438). Bartczyszyn, who collected career assist No. 1,000 last Friday at North Texas, has handed out 40-plus assists seven times and directed the Ragin' Cajuns offense to 50-plus kills six times.

Libero Sydney Davis, a sophomore with 536 career digs, carries an active streak of five consecutive matches with double figure digs.

The Ragin' Cajuns aim to create a greater disparity between positive points produced and negative points. The squad turned in a +66/-63 figure in a five-set loss to Indiana State in the final match at last weekend's North Texas Invitational, one in which the fifth set was decided by two points.

Milestone Moments
> Junior outside hitter Stacey Reilly needs three kills to capture her 500th career kill.
> Stacey Reilly is 31 digs away from notching her 700th career dig.
> Setter Jessica Bartczyszyn is 62 assists away from reaching 500 assists for the second straight season.
> Junior outside hitter Chloe Cordell is six kills away from establishing a new personal single-season best total. Cordell posted 87 kills as a sophomore in 2015, her present career-best total.
> Sophomore outside hitter Hanna Rovira can surpass her freshman season kills production with 14 more kills. Rovira, who has 69 kills so far this season, generated 82 kills as a freshman in 2015.
> Head coach Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot is one win shy of a second place tie with Sherry LeBas and two wins from sole possession of second place on the program's all-time victories list. Currently in her ninth season with the Ragin' Cajuns, Mazeitis-Fontenot has collected 110 victories and trails only LeBas (111) and Wilo Colon (136) on the coaching ledger.

Coach Mazeitis-Fontenot's Thoughts
"We're going to stay the course and keep working. I do believe in this team, because we are doing all the right things.

Chanelle Gardner is still having a great year. She's working very hard to lead this group. Sydney Davis, our libero, is really coming on in terms of what she's understanding and how she's moving through the game.

We need to work on our serving errors. They're okay, if you're getting enough aces to balance them out. That's one of the key categories that we need to tip the scale as we move toward conference play."

Series Notables
UAB: First meeting in Birmingham since the 1991 UAB Tournament…Last met on Sept. 15, 2007 at Tiger Invitational in Memphis…Blazers hold a 3-1 edge in all-time meetings.

Memphis: Ragin' Cajuns won the last meeting in four sets, a win which gave the squad the tournament title in the 2012 Tiger Invitational in Memphis…The 2012 matchup is the lone prior meeting in Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot's tenure at UL…Memphis owns an 8-5 series lead.

UT Martin: Programs have been matched up in Birmingham before, the only other instance occurring in September 2000 at the Samford Invitational (Ragin' Cajuns won, 3-1)…UTM has won the last two matchups, the latter a five-set triumph at Earl K. Long Gym on Aug. 25, 2007 in the Capital One Ragin' Cajuns Classic…The Skyhawks lead the series, 2-1.

Up Next
Louisiana returns to Earl K. Long Gym and welcomes the Georgia schools for Sun Belt Conference-opening weekend.

The Ragin' Cajuns face Georgia State in the SBC opener on Friday, Sept. 23, followed by a meeting with Georgia Southern on Saturday, Sept. 24. Both matches are set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Jessica Bartczyszyn

Chloe Cordell

Sydney Davis

Chanelle Gardner

Stacey Reilly

Hanna Rovira